


Monachopsis

by Kuro909



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Adventure, AfterDeath fanchild, All Platonic - Freeform, Angst., Dark Magic, Fantasy, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I don't want to hurt anyone with my writing, I might be exagerating, Magic, Necromancy, Reapertale OC backstory, There's No Romance In This Story, Undertale Magic logic, Undertale Multiverse, Warnings- this story contains heavy themes such as bullying, but better than regret anything later, loss and self-doubt, other fanchildren mentioned, other kinds of relationship, parents and child relationship, teacher and student relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-12 08:28:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28882446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kuro909/pseuds/Kuro909
Summary: Gýro is one more in the AfterDeath family. Another one in the middle-child group. Of course his parents can't give him a lot of attention. He can't ask it from them. Wouldn't be fair. As he said, he was just one more.To top It of, possibly every mortal hates him. He's just like his father's shadow after all. Another grim reaper to spread death and loss. That's if you don't get the ballance. Still. It is what It is, and he can't do anything about it.He will always be Death's kin. With Death's power. He can't change what he was born as.....Or can he?........ "Tell me, son of Death.........What would you say...................... Of learning Necromancy?"
Relationships: AfterDeath (mentioned)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	1. •Prologue;

**Author's Note:**

> \- Gýro is my original AfterDeath fanchild, you can see more of him in my Tumblr! (@Kuro909)  
> \- There will be a skele-TON of angst here...  
> \- likely slow updates.  
> \- I know OC stories are often hard to promote... That's more me writing to myself as I'm too lazy to turn that into a comic-

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief summary of what happened to bring us to the story to follow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Fate and Destiny are mentioned in this even so because Geno was supposed to become Error and that didn't happen in this timeline. Their control is limited, like a small influence.
> 
> \- I will be setting up a background and Idea of how things are for the story.
> 
> \- no major Warnings.

Once upon a time, there was a forbidden love between a mortal and a God. That was the God of Death. Reaper. He spared his lover, Geno's, soul that should have left this plan a long time ago, and both went through a because of this.

They disturbed the balance. It is a severe crime. 

In our Multiverse everything works according to the balance. Unfortunately the multiverse itself does not have the power to balance alone, so entities such as said God were created to perform the little duties that kept the order within it. Life and Death, Destruction and Creation, Dreams and Nightmares, Space and Time… Each aspect had at least one guardian or more. And so many guardians were around these days.

However… Along with them came certain rules. A guardian is still a living being, and they too had to be kept in order. 

Well, first, no one is allowed to drastically cause any interference to a guardian's duty, except for their counterparts.  
Second, guardians should never try to perform each other's duties. It's bound to disaster.  
Third, nobody should neglect their responsibilities under the influence of feelings or ideals. The balance must be upheld.  
Fourth, guardians must remain as neutral as they can possibly be.  
Fifth, no one is allowed to change a written fate. 

Of course, those aren't all of the rules. But the relevant ones for what the two lovers did.

As you can guess, the couple broke third to fifth rule- but regardless, they managed to find a way of staying together even so.

What? Curious? Sorry.

We unfortunately won't be telling their love story today. Even more so knowing that it isn't certain.  
The tale changes every time. So nobody is fully able to say; how did this dying soul manage to conquer the grim reaper's stone heart.  
Much less how his divine partner defied the rules of fate, in order to save his lover from the gripes of death, and claimed him as the other half to its actual personification.

So let's just say they lived happily ever after.

Somehow, Reaper managed to bring Geno to his universe, ReaperTale, the God's realm. Most gods didn't take it lightly at first, to have a mortal, a glitch, walking the sacred soil that for so many eras was left untouched even by older entities such as destruction…

Eventually, however, they got used to the ex-mortal living among them. Geno was accepted by most, and welcomed in his new universe- which he was most grateful for, since said skeleton lost his place in his home-AU a long time ago- as an equal. Being even able to befriend most gods living there.

The gods in ReaperTale weren't like guardians. Some could argue they were even younger than some of those.  
Their role was to incorporate things of the mortal world, and their presence reinforced those elements. The balance could opper without them keeping their main concepts alive, but not as strongly. And not without sacrifices. For those reasons, their universe was mostly left alone by the ancient forces and the outside guardians, Fate itself couldn't properly interfere with life here.

The gods and their concepts were said to be mostly born out of stars, and were as we know, Death- incorporated by two sibling beings made out of darkness, one being Reaper - also called Sans- and the other Papyrus. Life- incorporated by Toriel, Magic- incorporated by Gaster, War- incorporated by Undyne, knowledge- incorporated by Alphys, Wisdom- incorporated by Gerson, Fortune- incorporated by Muffet, and finally, the king of all, Sky- incorporated by Argore.

Most of the divine beings were called by their concept rather than name, so as referred to 'Undyne' you could call her 'War' instead.  
Reaper could go by 'Death', and so it goes. The 'nicknames' were especially popular among mortals and in between AUs, avoiding confusion. 

•  
ReaperTale could be described as something next to ancient Greece mixed with a much more modern society. Thanks to the Goddess of knowledge and the God of Magic, technology and the current life-style of the era were well implanted on the mortal inhabitants of the universe, although architecture, worship temples for each one of the gods, and even some of the villages and cities, remained untouched by time, still, visited by almost every mortal in the AU. 

The divine beings weren't much different. Although as old as time, most of them could adapt well to a modern language, and some even had their sanctuaries disguised as ordinary houses.  
Each God had a territory that repelled most mortals naturally, and a sanctuary where they lived in. In ancient times, those used to be enormous, with statues, marble columns, worship pedestals…

But recently, even them began to look for something that would blend in a little better. That happens to be Death's case.

Don't get It wrong. Death has little to no interest in blending in with mortals.  
A massive temple made of cold marble and dark stone, with lots of rooms and no one to occupy them, surrounded by dark iron gateways and with a large yard and a forest of dead trees, little but ellegantly and coldly decorated with crystals, skulls perhaps, dark wooden furniture… Something that would scream 'Death' to the mortals who dared approach his home. That's more like him. But sadly… Not like Geno. 

You can only imagine the reaction of the poor one-eyed skeleton, born and used to a simple mortal life, upon seeing his partner's extravagant residence. Their relationship alone was a scandal as it was.  
Geno would never feel at ease in a place like this, and worse, it called way too much attention! Death had no choice but to redecorate. 

At the end, they reached some kind of middle ground, Geno didn't want to live in a mansion, but Death was hardly used to small places either, so with Ink - the Guardian of Creation-'s help, they ended up with a fairly big house with two floors a basement and an attic, surrounded by a natural fence of dense dark forest, courtesy of the Goddess of Life, that had covered the whole of the border to Death's territory, since the God liked to be left alone and almost no mortal dared to cross through the dark woods. 

Death had to admit, the place looked way more 'alive' like this. 

In Geno's vision, it was still a little too much, but he was thankful for the extra space when more elements were added to the picture. The lovebirds had kids. Lots of kids. 

…….  
You see, skeleton monsters, as most monsters, could create another soul combining their magic. This happens automatically when both souls are at ease and in trust. There's no real need for intimate physical contact, the souls only have to be close, the contact would just speed up the process. And Death was both over-protective and sticky like a needy puppy, when It came to Geno. 

Probably by the fact that he's the only mortal that won't die by Death's touch and don't mind his closeness. Someone to give attention to the touch-starved god.

Their couple nickname used to be AfterDeath, combining the name of Geno's original AU, Aftertale and well… Death. It started out as a practical joke among their out-code friends from other AUs, but as the family grew it kinda spread and was adopted as a family name.

Family…. Who could tell that one day, the personification of Death itself would fall for a mortal, change, and build a family out If it?

Destiny could be so unpredictable...

ೋ❀❀ೋ═══ • ═══ೋ❀❀ೋ


	2. •>Monachopsis -  The subtle but persistent feeling of being out of place;

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The way life is for a son of Death and introduction of our main character.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> » This chapter contains mentions and a scenes of bullying and violence! (Nothing extremely heavy but still there!)

Well… You can't plant a pretty rose without expecting any thorns out of It.

Fate never meant for Death to have a family. Nor for Geno to live on happily. Fate was not content. But It could do very little to those two in that timeline. It was infuriating. If we could see them right now, F4T3 would have probably flipped some cosmic table and broke it in half. Later on taking a deep breath and smirking humorlessly. Fine. They'd play by D3S7INY's rules. As said earlier, they had several kids for Fate to play with instead.

•

Now, the amount of children the AfterDeath family had, was far more than what one could count in a regular number of hands. Luckily for them, somehow the house was never full.

Truth is, once out-code (beings that do not belong inside the code of any particular universe) children find out about the multiverse, they tend to spend little to almost none time at all on their childhood homes.  
The oldest kids passed by to visit now and then, but mostly the youngest stayed.

Gýro was one of those, he wasn't by far the youngest of his siblings, nor the oldest. Stuck in the position of another one in the middle-child group, being a quiet and reserved kid, he automatically went to the ' needs less attention and isn't likely to cause trouble' list. Boy the list was wrong.

At this very moment for example, he found himself leaning his back against a tree trunk behind some bushes nearby the closest village.  
As silently as he could possibly be, the young skeleton peeked through the leaves for his pursuers.

It was pretty much routine every time he went to the village with Geno. Mortal kids used to pick on him constantly. So he was better off staying out of sight.

Before all, let's also establish that Death ain't what you would call a popular God. There are a couple groups that worship his gift, of course, but most mortals fear Death. Hate him.   
No one truly wants to die, so many thought that the world would be much brighter without the dark divinity, not truly considering the balance that should be kept.

Of course, no one dared to oppose the raven God, Reaper wasn't known for his patience towards mortals, and much less with those who messed with what was his. So doing anything with Geno and most of their kids was also out of question.   
Most of their kids.

The inhabitants of ReaperTale mostly didn't have anything against Geno but to playfully weird his choice of partner. So the glitched skeleton was able to have the peaceful life he longed for all that time in the savescreen. 

•

On the other hand… Monsters, humans… every being has a tendency to prey on the weak and lonely. 

That's the reason why he found himself there right now. Hiding behind a few trees on the edge of village territory. The little skeleton wore a pale red hooded cloak, dark brown pants, a white shirt, and a light brown scarf, which he held tightly on his bony-fingers.

Gýro had come to the nearest village with his mom, Geno, to buy some groceries. He didn't like to tag along for reasons… but then again, he also didn't want Geno to worry or question his motive to stay behind.  
He managed to convince his mom that he wanted to stay behind in the edge of the forest this time… It was a relief that he didn't have to go inside the village.

Somehow, Geno had fallen for the lie that he wanted to check on some butterflies and he was enthusiastic on the matter. Even though… he never once before even mentioned butterflies.

Oh well. He called that a gain.

Sighing quietly he once more laid his back against the tree and rested his sockets. Perhaps he could sleep until Geno was back? He didn't get much last night… his thoughts and the possibility of a quick nap were cutted short rather quickly, sadly by a familiar call.

" Well well well. Would you look at what the crows left out?" 

A cracked and rough voice spoke. The small skeleton quickly shot his eyes open and was standing alert in a soulbeat. Couldn't he have a moment of peace?

" … it's… You."

He spoke coldly. A few feet from him stood a young wolf monster. He had a blueish gray fur and wore a simple white shirt and blue jeans. Probably around his age but that kid was way taller. He was followed close by two human kids, a boy and a girl. 

" Yeah, me. And I thought I made it clear that we didn't want any of you grim reapers lurking around here."

The monster said, puffing his chest so he looked even bigger than before.  
Gýro didn't even flinch at this point anymore.

" I'm not inside of the village. I'm just waiting for someone. The forest is still border to Death's territory."

He heard a growl coming from the wolf boy in response as he walked towards him, backing him against the tree trunk from before. He did not lower his chin though. His eye-lights hid any fear he could possibly have.

The furry monster's yellow eyes glimmered in annoyance and a huge light-gray paw with pointy claws grabbed him by the shirt and threw him harshly against the tree out of the blue.  
Successfully earning a shocked yelp from the skeleton as he heard a slight crackling sound from somewhere in his back.

" Argh... What the- ?!"

" You half-bloods think you're so smart don't you? My sister died two days ago you know?"- 

the wolf continued. Gýro went back on his feet shakingly as he fought to make out the words from the buzzing in his skull. He must have hit it hard…

His eye-lights widened. What..? Was he blaming him for that?? 

" Then I've been thinking… the world would be so much better… "- he kept stepping closer, showing his bright white claws on his right hand.  
A gaze filled with fury, hatred, and a glimpse of sadness. Clouded behind the other two.

Why was he talking like he was to blame for that? He didn't even know this monster well. He wasn't the one to blame. It wasn't his fault! …..  
Then… Why did he feel so bad..? 

The wolf raised his hand high, a wide grin spreading through his face, showing a line of white sharp teeth, and the 5 sharp claws glimmering against the dying sunlight behind them.

" You grim reapers… Death's kin…"

It wasn't his fault he was a grim reaper…  
It wasn't his fault to have a bloodline like this. It wasn't his fault that Death was his father…. It…

" YOU'RE ALL A DISGRACE! "

A sudden wave of pain broke through his thoughts as his hazy mind had barely the time to command a defense, raising his left arm instinctively to shield his face and chest, while the red attack pierced through his sleeve, tearing it up with ease and opening 5 cuts in parallel to the bone underneath. 3 of them looked worse.

The warm magical blood oozing from the fresh wound woke him to reality once more. He seemed shocked. He could have dodged that… It would have been easy to dodge that… But… Did he really have the right to..?

He could faintly hear the human boy holding back the monster from unleashing a second attack. Though the voices sounded muffled and distant. 

" H-hey, dude… Take it easy, would ya?"

" What?! Will you take pity on that pest now?"

" W-what?! No! I'm not a pacifist loser! Is just…"

Pity? Was he that pittyfull?  
It wasn't his fault...

"(...) What if he tells the God of Death?" 

What if he tells..? Really? Was that all of the reason? Was he anything beyond his father's kin at all to those people?! He wasn't a damn shadow! He was not Reaper! Won't they even bother to try and see that..?

He raised his eyes from his injured arm, holding the bloody sleeve with his free hand, unconsciously pressing It hard. His eyes were as defiant and prideful as always. 

" The last thing that I need is your pity." 

he said in a death-cold tone, almost resembling Reaper's himself.   
Hearing his own voice sound like that made him flinch slightly and look away.

" Just… Leave me alone. We both have better things to do. " - … He risked a glimpse at the Wolf monster again and added- " … I'm sorry for your sister." 

That seemed like the trigger, the furry growled wildly and seemed ready to strike again on a rampage if both humans weren't holding him back now.

" Dude, it's not worth it. Let's just go."

The three of them and Gýro exchange one last long look before both human kids pushed the Wolf and the trio of mortals left sight behind the bushes.

Gýro waited for a good few heartbeats before letting himself fall against the tree and to the ground, letting out a long and shaken sigh. He looked down at his blood-sinking arm… he'd have to come up with something to tell Geno… He probably wouldn't be long now…

But honestly, focusing on that was getting harder as he found himself struggling to even keep his eye-sockets open… Whatever pain he had on the new-found injury was swallowed by a soothing wave of darkness, and the small skeleton gave in fightlessly to sleep, falling to a sitting position against the tree.  
His skull hurt.

A single thought on his mind.

I didn't ask to be born like this…

ೋ❀❀ೋ═══ • ═══ೋ❀❀ೋ


	3. •> Quiescent - A quiet, soft spoken soul.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the previous chapter and deeper view on Gýro's life in general.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- patching up wounds  
> \- Secrets  
> \- hiding injuries.. Don't be like Gýro, kids. Tell your parents things. ;<;

Gýro woke up to a very worried Geno, shaking him softly but urgently as he held him by the shoulders.  
The younger skeleton mumbled a hardly coherent protest as he felt his mom's hands unawaringly poking his dormant left arm-

His left arm!  
Shaking the sleep away quickly he hid the wounded member behind his back and looked at Geno that now backed away a couple steps to give him room.

" M-mom, you're back!"

He greeted faking a pretty good smile.  
He would have waved his hand as well, but both were occupied as his non-bloody arm held the other in place hidden from the older and in a way it would prevent unnecessary movement.

" S-sorry. I fell asleep waiting … hehe…" 

" What happened?"

Geno cutted.  
He had gotten back just now and found his child sleeping in a tree and with a little puddle of blood beside him. The least of his worries was the sleeping part. 

Luckily for Gýro, his red coat had hidden the wound and the blood in his arm.  
Anyone would say it was just a darker spot or stain. He had also moved in his sleep. It wasn't that good for the cut that he slept over it… 

In fact his arm felt numb.  
But hopefully he could still get away with it without worrying Geno too much. 

" O-oh..! It was .. an accident. I fell."

He lied. He felt bad lying to his mom… But honestly, he would feel even worse if he made him worried.  
He had so many younger siblings… It just didn't seem fair to take his time on this.  
Still… Maybe he could tell half a truth there to make himself feel better.

" I tripped on a root and fell on the tree. I think I cut my arm on a stick or something… I healed it though."- what a dirty liar. - " But I think it was too much… You know… Healing magic and all. I didn't get much sleep last night.'

Well there goes another half-true at least. Gýro was never one to sleep much.  
At least not for a kid his age. Not many 10 year olds stay up to 2 AM reading under the sheets. But what could he say? All the stories Gerson would give him were just so captivating! 

Geno sighed heavily.  
For one side, he knew the boy was not telling him the fullstory.  
But for the other… He seemed well enough for now, and It was also no good questioning him here, in the middle of the forest. 

If he really was okay so he could ask at home. And perhaps take a good look on the so-said stick cut.

What worried Geno the most was the fact that Death wasn't home - as usual, the God barely had a day off -, and Goth, Raven, Sorrell, Shino and a few others were alone. Don't get him wrong… But kids will be kids, and his and Death's kids were not known for avoiding trouble and good behavior.  
Gýro himself seemed like one of the quieters.

" Alright… Don't think you're free from that though. Let's go home and I'll check if you healed it properly. You never let me teach you healing magic either way… "

The boy flinched but nodded slightly… Maybe he wouldn't get away after all… He would be lying if he said he wasn't a bit relieved.

" 'K mom… I'm just not good with it. I mean… Green magic is just not working for me."

He complained.  
Causing Geno to chuckle. Every monster had some kind of healing magic.  
Some could share the ability and heal others through green magic, others had it in them just to help their wounds heal faster.  
Most skeletons had the first kind.

" Nonsense. You just have to practice."

He reasoned, as holding up his hand, which Gýro gladly accepted.  
The fact that he kept his left arm behind his back at all times did not pass unnoticed by the one-eyed skeleton. 

Just like that the two quietly resumed their way home.  
It was quite a walk, if you consider that Death's territory had a whole forest around it, but also tended to be a pleasant one.

Sticking to the made-up bare-grass path you could enjoy the sounds of nature and fresh shade provided by the tall dark trees.  
No one ever crossed the land uninvited.  
It was peaceful and private.

Geno loved that.  
But right now? He hardly thought they should delay furthermore their arrival home.  
So he decided on a good old short-cut.  
They have always served him well.

Gýro closed his eyes as he felt Magic envelop the both of them and in a matter of seconds, he was standing in the front door as Geno searched his pockets for the keys. 

" Alright."- he said raising a keychain with multiple keys on it, and pulling out the obsidian-colored one from his house - " Let's get going so I can patch you up."

That similar feeling of guilt pecked on him. He felt guilty because deep down he longed for having his mom's attention all for himself over a few scratches…  
Then again…  
He lied about healing that cut. It stung a bit. Boy he could already hear the lecture...  
Was It really that bad?  
He couldn't decide. 

He didn't have time to decide.  
It wasn't a moment after they opened the door, Shino, Raven and Goth ran through the corridor barely managing to stop before crashing against the newcomers.

" Mom! Raven stole my mangas again!!" - Goth stated, casting his brother a death glare.

" No I didn't! I borrowed it, you're the one who won't share anything! We're siblings for Asgore's sake!" - Raven countered.

" M-Mommyyyy, Raven and Goth stepped all over my drawing when they were fighting!!" - Shino whined.

The three of them spoke at the same time. Geno blinked confused, trying to process all the information he just got, when he did open his mouth to respond, Shino pulled him by the sleeve towards their room. 

" Come and see the huge mess they made! It's not fair! I've been working really hard on that drawing!! " 

" Shino! You adorable little traitor!" - Raven gasped, rushing after them.  
Maybe he could get off the hook by being there to explain himself.  
Geno loved seeing them taking responsibility after all.

" I-It isn't what it looks like, Mom! I swear it was an accident!" - Goth panicked, stumbling on his feet on his way not to get too far behind.  
He couldn't get grounded again!

It didn't take long for Geno to be literally dragged through the corridor by Shino and the two desperate older kids.  
Gýro blinked.  
Perfect timing of theirs.  
Apparently he did get away after all. 

He stood there in the front door for a couple more heartbeats before deciding it was probably a good thing.

He could handle whatever damage there was…  
Plus, injuries always looked worse than they actually were.  
And even more so in the eyes of one's parents. Closing the door behind him, he started to head upstairs to his room.

•

Now the AfterDeath's house was large. But even so the kids rooms were… Something to be sorted out.  
Mostly shared between siblings, in pairs, trios or so. Gýro was 'lucky' per say. He didn't want to share a room… All his siblings were just… so loud. 

So he asked for a room that literally had no use. The attic. It was mostly left alone because to store random stuff there was the basement.  
And honestly…  
Most of the family just forgot about its existence.  
He found it suitable for him. 

There were really no objections.  
In fact… He considered himself a quiet kid. People would barely even notice him there, as he would scarcely make any noise.

It would have been a challenge to get there under normal circumstances… As most attics had ladders that had to be pulled down from above, and the 9 year old wasn't exactly… Tall. Plus, climb it with an injured arm..? No good.

Fortunately… Those weren't normal circumstances.  
He did learn a trick or two from Geno. Teleporting, to be precise. And so he did. A soulbeat and he stood in the middle of his room.

The attic was fairly big, it didn't have a very high ceiling… But that didn't really bother him as it was more than enough space to stretch himself.  
He had a writing desk attached to his bed, as the sleeping part was on the bottom off the ground and turned aside against the wall, it covered the small work-place like a second ceiling, actually it could best be described as a bunk bed without the lower half, having the desk to replace it.  
A small wooden ladder connected it to the ground by the bed-feet, so It did nothing to interfere with the desk below.

His bedding was gradient-like, it went from red to yellow, giving the bed a sunset sky aspect.  
And was honestly the only flashy thing in the room. On the opposite side, two bookshelves rested side by side as if a single bigger structure, both seemed to store books to their full capacity, volumes of all genres, colors and sizes. 

He had a small wooden wardrobe, worn out by time, and a couple boxes piled up on each other, each storing random items without much value that he couldn't fit on the small amount of furniture he chose to have.  
He wasn't the kind to pollute a room with too much decoration. He also did enjoy having this large gap of space right to the middle of the room.  
It felt like It was much bigger than its actual size. The only thing on that space was a worn out dull red carpet with a couple embroidered black details on it's edges.

As for lighting, he had a potent ceiling lamp, turned on by a small rope that dangled from its core, a desk-light, and a single window Geno had helped him with.  
It was also located on the ceiling, right above Gýro's bed. It faced right up to the sky, allowing the boy to both count clouds and stargaze while laying in bed.  
Small glass figures adorned the glass in colorful versions of the same material. Forming mainly the images of constellations in their figurative forms. 

Of everything… He would say the window was his favorite.

Little point thinking of it now though.  
He walked to his writing desk and pulled the chair off, sitting down and beginning to remove his coat. The long red reaper's coat was barely ever off him, as it was one;  
More cover for his bones that at any time could emanate his hereditary deadly aura,  
and two; …. The hoodie made him feel a little taller. 

Resting it on the table beside him, he raised his left long dark gray sleeve, deathnitely noticing the darker stain and torn out parts on it… He guessed the coat wouldn't be in better condition under further inspection, making a mental note to see if his mom could fix it later.

Yep.  
The bone was still injured.  
And at first sight, It wasn't looking much good.  
The three claw marks ran deep, and the dry crimson around them didn't help.  
Notice took that the newly found wounds were not the only scratches that ran along the bony arm. Most coming from similar sources or just actual incidents, but way older, being now only scars. 

If anything, he regretted not learning more about healing magic when he had the chance. He could have made some of those have healed without leaving a mark as they did, but well… At least he didn't let them fully untreated. 

With a heavy sigh, he teleported the first aid-kit to his desk and began patching up the wound, with the ease of someone who did that frequently.

This one was particularly deep…. He probably should also add any bit of green magic he could make now.  
Just in case.

ೋ❀❀ೋ═══ • ═══ೋ❀❀ೋ


	4. •> Prestorm - The quiet before a storm breaks;

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's have some in-view of how a normal morning is like in the AfterDeath's house!

The young skeleton awoke with the sunlight hitting his face, as he growled in annoyance attempting to block it by hiding his head under a pillow.  
How come it's daylight already?  
He had just barely fallen asleep!  
It was that much to ask for 5 extra minutes?

Apparently yes,  
he could already hear his siblings fighting over whatever the reason was this time one level below him.  
He sighed heavily and sat up straight, brushing his eyes-sockets tiredly before turning to the ladders and climbing his way down from the bed.  
He stretched a little causing a couple crackles from his bones before putting on some every-day clothes and teleporting down.

Since his previous ones were on the wash, today he wore a more… Normal outfit.  
He would much rather use his coat, it suited him better, and plus, blocked most of his deadly aura.  
It was made with this purpose after all...

Buuut…. Since it was not an option at least until noon, he didn't have much choice.  
Getting on a plain long-sleeved white t-shirt, usual gray pants and a red hooded coat. Hood up as usual.  
And of course, his scarf as well.  
As he had deemed It fit and surprisingly intact considering yesterday's events.

Upon reaching the second floor he headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth, and what a miracle!  
No line today. He either must be very late, or very earlier.  
Either way, having as many siblings as he did, this was rare.

Upon finishing everything, he went downstairs, and well… Neither of his previous conclusions were correct.  
He could see Raven, Shino and Sorrel at the breakfast table, Raven and Shino arguing about who should have the last piece of toast....  
If they were the ones who woke him up a while ago, that should be just cold bread by now.

Geno was cooking something, and Sorrel seemed to be enjoying his meal like a civilized person.  
He went to join them and took a seat on the edge of the table.

Gýro never really had an appetite…  
It happens sometimes with half-bloods and out-codes. He just happened to be both, they take some extra from their godly side, and as a result, eating and drinking becomes much more optional.  
He took a small butter cookie from the jar on the middle of the table and bit it slightly.

" Not gonna have much again today?"

Geno asked as he sat a plate with some extra toast on the table, earning excited gasps from Raven and Shino.  
Gýro giggled at that and shook his head.  
Geno was honestly used to the fact some of his kids were more like Reaper when it came to mortal stuff.  
Still… His instincts said at least try. 

" How about a cup of milk then?"

Gýro gave him a poorly disguised look of supreme disgust and shook his head.

" What? No! Ew! I'm not drinking that! "

" Don't tell me you got Uncle Cross's cow phobia now~ " 

Raven teased, looking up from his plate to his younger brother.  
" I do not!" - Gýro quickly retorted.

" Then what's with the milk? You always hated it. You'll never grow up like this~ "

The middle sibling death glared at his brother before throwing a folded ball of napkin at him.

" You take that back!"

" Never! You'll be the smallest forever, Bro! Shino'll grow taller than you if you keep this up!" - Raven retorted, blocking the napkin projectile with his arm and chuckling.

Before a reply could ever come, or Gýro got the chance to choke Raven, Geno stepped in. A single look from the older skeleton was all that it took for both of them to settle down. Shino continued to happily munch at her toast while Sorrel was watching how it all went on in amusement.  
This family was just chaotic.

Geno had to try not to laugh at his son's arguments every morning.  
And believe me, he tried hard.

" Enough you two. Raven stop teasing your brother, he's only 8, "

" 9." 

" 9. "- Geno corrected with an apologetical look. Gýro had been nine for a while now, in fact… he should be turning ten soon. He lost track of time sometimes...- 

" And Gýro, don't throw things at Raven at the table, you can talk it out later."

They nodded returning to breakfast once again as a sleepy Goth made his way down stairs, almost tripping over the last 5 steps and sliding the rest of the way.  
Silver and Salvage at his heels, not in much awaker state. 

" What's goin' on? Did Shino have coffee accidently again or somethin'? You guys could wake Life up miles away in her sanctuary like this." - he said, rubbing his eyes before the trio took their seats as well to join the conversation.

Gýro eventually left as more of his siblings started to wake up.  
Death as usual should be the last, proceeding to drown over 5 cups of coffee before considering himself ready to start the day.  
Lazy god, If he could delay his work as much as possible, he would.  
It wasn't bad…  
He got to spend more mornings with his family, but still. For a grim reaper, that was slacking off.

Making his way outside, It would be a lie if he said he had plans for today.  
But staying at home was also… Suffocating. Maybe return some of the books he got from Mr.Gerson? That sounded good.  
Briefly teleporting to his room to get said materials, he went on his way at once. 

•

Gýro walked through the familiar deep woods, heading to the God Of Wisdom's library.  
Gerson's library was honestly his favorite place in all of Reapertale, as it was quiet, none of those who tormented him were allowed as mortals, and most importantly…. Books.  
A skele-ton of books.  
Mr.Gerson himself was very pleasant to be around. He would often help organize the place, so the old turtle God seemed to enjoy his company as well.

…. One of the only ones who did.  
For Death was not a popular entity even among the other Gods.

As he walked, mind briefly clouded by those thoughts, a familiar 'craw' sounded from above him. The boy looked up already expecting what he saw.  
Black feathers at first, and then the bird landed on a low branche right next to him. With another welcoming garnet. A crow.  
The bird said to be one of his father's symbols, had always been oddly friendly towards him, for a wild bird that is. 

" Hello, my friend. How are you today?"

He asked, smiling ever so slightly but obviously expecting no answer.  
He had asked his father and siblings if they were playing a prank on him at the creature's first appearances, since some AfterDeath's with particularly a lot of magic were able to change forms.  
Reaper did it mostly.  
His sons usually would only be able to manifest grim reaper wings or something of the sort, but who knows.

They all denied and ever since then he had grown quite used to the bird's company. Needless to say, he had no other friends, but it had been around for quite some time now.  
Often just sitting on a nearby tree, or even his shoulder as he read outdoors.  
Perhaps it felt pity on him, or his aura attracted it. Still… He felt less lonely like this. 

The crow croaked, shaking her beautiful black wings for a response, causing the skeleton to giggle.

" I'll be heading to Gerson's place soon… I don't think you can accompany me today. I don't know how he feels about birds at his library." 

The crow stared at him with her shiny pitch black eyes before releasing a friendly croak and flying off, briefly pushing his hood playfully as she passed.  
That bird was particularly intelligent.  
He always thought.

Once again resuming his walk to his destination. 

In order to reach Gerson's library from his house, one should first cross Death's territory and Life's to an extent.  
The long walk was no problem for him, as he previously mentioned, he had no other plans.  
And as far as he kept deep into the woods of his father's territory, no villagers should bother him. Same with Miss Life's.  
In fact, the Goddess' territory was one of his favorites, and Life herself was extremely welcoming towards him and his siblings.  
She, and Gerson, leaving Papyrus out of course, were a few of the only gods to openly welcome Death's kin.  
The others were more cautious.  
A few even aggressive. 

•  
It was almost sunhigh when he reached his destination, teleporting a few pieces of the way.  
His teleportation wasn't good enough still to bring him this far in one shot.  
Not for a lack of ability or magic, but practice. That wasn't a type of magic to be messed with, he could teleport anywhere by accident.  
Being stuck in some void or desert seemed like a bad idea.  
Better to be cautious until he mastered it better.

He walked up the small stair set that led to the enormous marble doors, carved with the design of trees and an owl with wings divided between both door halves.  
It seemed almost as heavy as it actually was. 

Soooo… He spared himself the effort of pushing It open by teleporting in.  
Making sure to politely knock from the outside first to announce his arrival.

" hm… Hello? Mr.Gerson..?" - he called, the familiar echo of his own voice echoing through the creamy colored walls. 

Gerson's library was breath-taking.  
Not many other ways to describe it.  
On the outside it seemed likely to be a huge fancy greek-like building. And that's mostly correct, except; it's interior was actually endless. How, you ask? Magic.

The walls and floor were made of marble, with large columns to the ridiculously high ceiling standing a considerable distance from each other.  
The ceiling was painted on Midnight blue, with a map of the sky and constellations on it's dome-like shape.  
It's said it would change on its own according to the current seasonal sky.  
The library had many floors, although they all went in a spiral format, never blocking the middle and allowing full view of the planetary dome. A few marble bridges with golden handrails connected one side to the other of the same level.

Bookshelves went as far as the sight could see and beyond, every book ever written had a copy here, those to be written and that wrote themselves as well.  
Even the life Records used by the grim reapers to judge souls were here.  
Despite its infinite size, there was an easy trick not to be lost in such a place.  
Gýro learned it the hard way.  
As long as you had clearly in mind what or who you're looking for, the library would guide you to it.

That in mind, it didn't take him long to find the turtle God. Gerson was organizing some papers but it didn't take him long as well to acknowledge his presence, waving in a friendly manner.

" Oh! Hey there, boyo! What brings you here today?"

" I… thought about returning those books I borrowed a couple days ago."

" Are you done already? That was fast. Would you like to leave them with me?"

" …" - Gýro seemed thoughtful. He didn't want to bother Gerson with his mess.- " I can search for their place if you want… You seem rather busy." 

He offered. The old God seemed to brighten up, releasing a rough laugh.

" If you would. I appreciate that. You know your way around. You're free to pick some other that gets your eye too. Just tell me when you're leaving, hehe."

He nodded, smiling thankfully before turning and beginning to walk, heading nowhere in particular, yet, perfectly sure of the sections he would visit.  
He was truly used to this library.

ೋ❀❀ೋ═══ • ═══ೋ❀❀ೋ


	5. •> Scintilla - A tiny brilliant flash or spark.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A spark of the energy and ideals from a close future. Gýro finally snaps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- violence  
> \- hurt no comfort  
> \- death, animal death (I'm sorryyyyy, had to happen T___T")  
> \- the villagers are absolute jerks and should go step on a lego.

Gýro wouldn't have noticed the time passing if not for Gerson.   
He sat in one of the various marble tables that were spread every few meters of the library, deeply focused on a mystery novel of some kind he had found.   
It was a fairly big book, not that he minded though.

The boy had learned that reading was the best way to make time pass and at the same time ignore the thoughts of everything he had to deal with in his life.   
Mostly he wouldn't let those village kids get to him. Not when he could lose himself in a good story elsewhere.  
He faintly heard Gerson calling his name, briefly taking it as only his imagination until the old turtle placed a hand on his shoulder.

" Boy? You really got into it, huh?"

He blinked looking up from the pages to the God standing by his side.

"Uh? Did I now..? "- he was still only paying half attention to what Gerson was talking about… Hey, can you blame him?   
It was a good novel, he was trying to solve what would happen further on.   
The older monster was perfectly aware of that fact and only laughed in response.

" Hehe. Yep. You've been reading the whole afternoon. Is going to get dark soon, I think you should get going, it's a long way to Death's place, sonny. You can take that one with you and return it later if you want." 

The skeleton seemed to brighten up considerably as he closed the book, making sure to memorize the page he was in, and nodded vigorously with a small smile.

" Really? Thank you mister Gerson! I won't be long with it!"

He promised, although the old turtle only rolled his eyes playfully.   
Oh, he knew too well he wouldn't.   
The kid was impressive when it came to reading speed.

" Don't mention it son, now you better get going, you must be more than used to the path by now, but there are dangerous things out there at night." - he advised, giving the little skeleton a brief pat on the head, messing up his hoodie and accidently making it cover nearly all of his face. - " Do come back some other day, hehe. I could use some young help. Gaster's always leaving a mess with the books. I do need my assistant you know?"

Gýro giggled at that, blushing slightly and nodding once again, using his free-hand to fix the hood from covering his eye-lights as the other pressed the book to his chest as If hugging it.

" Sure! I'll be on my way now, good night Mr Gerson!"- he waved goodbye as turning to the exit. 

Gerson smiles softly.   
Gýro was a good kid….  
His smile fell a bit  
. Yes, Indeed he was.   
So why did someone like him always have some injury whenever coming by? 

The reluctance in moving his left arm today had not passed unnoticed by the god.   
Gerson wasn't the God of Wisdom for no reason. He had to be observant.  
He knew the young skeleton always had something buzzing in his skull, he also knew he was extra careful with everything.   
One such as himself wouldn't get accidently hurt this frequently.   
He wondered… Did Death know of any of this?

•  
Meanwhile, Gýro made his way through the forest, as carefully as the previous time as for hiding from villagers.   
He had a weird feeling though… something felt… Incredibly off.   
Almost wrong.

He glances at the sky…  
It seemed about a few minutes from sunset. The cyan blue just began to fade into pink and orange flashes.   
Maybe he had some time to investigate before heading home?  
His head and (metaphorical) heart had different opinions on the matter.  
The disagreement went on for a couple more soulbeats before having to be cut short. 

A loud ' CRAW' echoed through the woods, the sound was odd and agonizing.   
Yet… Familiar.   
It sent shivers down his spine as he rushed after It. He had a bad feeling.   
A tight, cold grip on his soul, like something was pushing it towards the sound.  
He recognized the feeling.

The cold grip of death,   
followed by the call of a dying soul. 

He runned a while longer before abruptly stopping, frozen on his feet.  
Not much ahead of him, a familiar group of villagers stood in a   
circle, giggling to themselves.  
He recognized the wolf monster, there was a rabbit as well as two new humans this time. The previous two were not there.   
None seemed to notice him, too busy with whatever they were doing.   
That in mind, he started to back off. 

One step after the other…  
He was about to get away when the hoarse cry came louder.  
It sounded like… A bird?  
He turned around once more and his eye-sockets faded to an unnatural black with the sight.

The kids had backed off a bit, jost enough so the bloody mess of black feathers was visible. Feathers Gýro knew only too well.  
He'd seen them just this morning.

" Stop It!"- he called by instinct, making himself present. 

He had failed to notice before, but one of the kids held a slingshot.   
Apparently they've been bird hunting.   
But Gýro wasn't naive.  
Nobody would hunt a forest crow, as they weren't quite useful for any mortal thing.   
Those villagers had made it just as clear how they despised death.  
They must have aimed for it, simply for being one of the God's symbols . 

They took a LIFE, for no reason.  
Why? What had the creature ever done to them?  
Why that of all birds in the forest? 

" Oh? Look who's back… Thought you wouldn't show your face out for a while after yesterday, pipsqueak." - The Wolf said, turning to him with a side grin.

Why… His friend?   
Wasn't he allowed to have one anymore? … What had HE ever done to them?

" … why…?" - his voice felt so quiet…

Never once he fought back.  
Never once he sold them off.  
never once even cried.  
Had he ever raised a finger to them?  
His magic always controlled.  
His words, barely audible.

Before he knew he had teleported behind them, kneeling besides the small feathery form on the ground.   
His vision felt blurry for some reason, as reddish tears fell beside it.   
The bird's breath was shallow and quick, he couldn't see the wound, but the rock had done some serious damage.

He had no idea how long the bleeding had been going on, and he couldn't touch her, as in his current state, he could literally see the dark aura surrounding his body whenever he stretched his hand into his field of vision. 

If he touched her… Or anything, they'd just die faster. That damned power...

He was helpless. 

He glared back at the shocked group.  
A glare darker than the void itself.  
Causing them to flinch.

" H-hey, what's wrong with you?! Da heck was that?! "

The Wolf growled, still shocked.   
Could the pipsqueak teleport all along..?

He was soon silenced by the answer he got. Blue magic.  
His soul felt way heavier and his body left the ground as it was pushed towards the skeleton, stopping inches away from him, who pierced through his very core with darker sockets still. Like staring into a black whole.   
He's body shivered slightly and he held down a whine, cursing mentally.  
Was he really weaker than that pathetic skeleton?!

" What's wrong with me?" - The latter echoed in a dead calm tone.

At this point the crow they shot down had stopped moving.

The furry monster gulped down as trying to formulate a reply.   
Hard task when hanging up the ground and looking death in the eye.

Lucky him, this situation didn't last as he was thrown to the opposite direction, hitting two of his human colleagues. The three fell to the ground, with no major injuries but the shock.

" What's wrong with me."- 

repeated the half-blood a little louder in an icy-cold voice, chuckling darkly to himself, what sent shivers through the whole group's spines once again.   
The grass around him rapidly turns gray and dies out as the black aura spreads.  
Emanating from his body as waves on a stormy sea.

" I SHOULD BE ASKING YOU THAT!."- He finally snapped,

his dark eye-sockets replaced by two fire-colored eye-lights that shone brightly from red to yellow.  
The anger and frustration on them caused the magic to flicker from furiously bright red to lower and hotter tones of scarlet and orange, giving them the actual aspect of wild-fire and matching the blood red sunset behind him perfectly.   
One could say they were beautiful if not under such terrifying circumstances. 

" I HONESTLY DON'T CARE HOW YOU TREAT ME, BUT IS YOUR STUPID HATRED WORTH SOMETHING ELSE'S LIFE?!"

the reddish colored magic began surrounding the skeleton in cloud-like spirals as he spoke, reaching for the bird's corpse behind him.

" WHAT IN ASGORE'S NAME MAKES YOU THINK YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO?! IF YOU HATE DEATH SO MUCH WHY BRING IT UPON ANOTHER SOUL?!? " - tears accumulated on the corners of his sockets as he spoke - " There's no reason… That was just an innocent creature..."

The magic enveloped the corpse as its own blood began to move around it, responding to the magical waves emanating from the grim reaper.  
The thick red liquid made a circle around the small creature's body, as from each corner of it, a small stream of blood began to head towards the center.

As soon as it reached the dirty charcoal feather, the dead animal moved.

" THERE'S NO REASON FOR ANY OF THIS!"- Gýro moved his arm harshly to the side as if throwing off some of the anger and sadness he felt - " I NEVER ASKED FOR THIS,..! I… I didn't want to be like this." - again, his last few words felt so quiet...

The hand gesture seemed to be the trigger as a dark shape took flight once more, surrounding the group from above and absolutely succeeding in terrorizing each one of the villager kids.

The dead crow seemed very much alive for their taste. 

ೋ❀❀ೋ═══ • ═══ೋ❀❀ೋ


	6. •> Nyctophilia - finding comfort in the dark.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How come a son of Death had Necromancy for his secondary magic? That's unthinkable!
> 
> The aftermath of the previous chapter. A new character is introduced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- more reflection than anything  
> \- who's the new person?

The recently turned undead bird flew above their heads, circling the whole group of living.  
Everyone stared at it, one side utterly terrified, while the actual responsible seemed purely confused. How?

He saw the bird dying, he felt her little soul shattering.- No… He couldn't be mistaken.  
It surely did happen.  
He could feel it still, the unsettling, unmistakable feeling of a dying soul, but way weaker, it seemed determined to live now.  
It FELT determined. 

He had no idea how he would know how DETERMINATION feels…  
He would best describe it as a small hurricane, but within the soul itself.

Spinning the magic from its core and spreading It around the surroundings.  
But this feeling wasn't alone… he felt his soul heavier than It usually was, he felt linked to something else. 

Another loud 'CRAW' snapped him out of his thoughts as the boy looked up to see the undead bird ducking down and pecking the head of the Wolf monster rather strongly.  
Said creature whined, snapping out of his own small trance and backing away, while shoving his arms over his head for protection. 

" The heck is that..!?"- 

He mumbled and turned his confused gaze towards Gýro, forcing a growl to look more threatening as the bird flew up again, preparing for a second dive.  
The humans around him stepped back looking for shelter, and the rabbit monster appeared to be gone already. 

" What are you doing?! That's not funny you little-"- he wasn't able to finish as a human boy held on to his arm, shaking him lightly and urging him out.

" Dude, no! We gotta get out of here..! T-Thats dark magic! I don't want anything to do with that!"

Dark magic..?

The Wolf frowned and glared one last time towards the skeleton before the bird dove once again, barely missing two humans who jumped out of it's way just in time before running off to the woods.  
The others didn't take long to follow, with the furry monster standing his ground a little longer before turning tail after his companions.

Gýro didn't move.  
Still trying to process what was going on and why he felt this weird.  
The crow kept circling a while longer before diving without a target this time, landing on a branch relatively close and staring back at the half-blood.

For the first time, the skeleton was able to properly look at his supposed creation.  
The undead still bared the wounds that took her life, her feathers dirty….  
But the spark in her eyes seemed vivid enough. Her soul was dead, still it had power over the shell.  
They were existing separately, still, for now it felt as though they weren't.  
How… How did he do that?

The bird showed no sign of the previous aggressiveness, just looking back at the young reaper.  
Neither moved. 

The wind shook the leaves of the trees around them, yet for what seemed like several soulbeats or none at all, the undead creature and it's caster remained stone-still.

Finally, something broke the ice cold silence as heavy footsteps approached.  
The sound seemed to alert both as Gýro blinked his sockets, shaking his thoughts back to the present and began backing away.  
The crow remained where she stood, although ready to set flight in defense of her caster again. 

Turns out another had watched the commotion. 

•

Ivory was a fairly known hybrid of monster and human around Reapertale.  
Having lived an age, she knew much of what there was to know, in record timing for a mortal and made herself a reputation among even the gods of said universe. 

Marked by starlight-silver hair, having human facial and dorsal structure accompanied by sharp ruby eyes, however her most noticeable features were her owl-like white feathered wings for arms and a tail of similar sort.  
Her bloodline was said to come from an old family of human magicians and -now extinct - Griffin Monsters.

Her past was a mystery, and her connections with the current world, limited as well.  
She avoided most, and when having to expose herself, she would often wear an owl-themed facial mask and her soft purple hood up.

The hybrid was nothing less than a Necromancer.

Not any of the kind, but one of talents to be recognized. Having found her passion in the lost art, Ivory was one of the most respectable necromancers of the AU, and surprisingly enough, in good terms with most gods that would usually oppose any sort of practice or rituals of the kind.

One could argue she was even friends with some of the divine beings.  
One of those coincidentally being the old God of Wisdom, Gerson.

The Necromancer often visited the God's library for study and research, although all her visits happened during night time, when she claimed there were less curious villagers, and her sight was clearer.  
That just happened to be one night she was making her way towards the library, when a familiar, yet very different, wave of magic reached her.  
Successfully gaining her attention. 

It was necromancy for sure, yet, It felt so… Genuine. Almost unaware.  
How could that be possible?  
To cast an undead spell, one should be aware of it's meaning, otherwise It wouldn't work. Curiosity took the best of her, as she decided to investigate.  
Happening to see the whole scene unfold itself a little after it's beginning. 

That child… She took the liberty of making assumptions, as It seemed obvious he was somehow related to Death - judging by the huge spot of gray right under his feet - and yet managed to fix a spirit back to its body..?  
That was fascinating enough. 

Deciding to approach, she stepped out of the woods, staring back at the half-blood and his undead crow.

•

Fear, is one way to describe how Gýro felt. What can I say but;  
How would you react to a masked hooded figure, with a powerful aura and piercing blood-red eyes, stepping out of the dark woods at night-fall? 

Still, too proud to show it, he lowered himself on defensive posture, summoning a bone to which he held on to in front of his chest.  
Slowly backing away as the figure approached. 

" W-who are you?! And what do you want??" ,- 

he questioned, keeping his voice still as best as he could, considering he just recovered from the previous event.

The undead bird set flight once again, circling the two beings and ready to strike at any given sign. 

"... " 

Ivory took a step closer, although her eyes were fixed on the bird.  
Undead corporeal form, It didn't seem mindless either…  
How did this kid know how to cast a spell like that? Did he cast any at all?  
Or was it genuine?

Too absorbed in her own thoughts, she failed to notice that the boy backed away a little too much, tripping over a root and falling on his back with a painful yelp. 

He had fallen over his injured arm.  
GrEaT. Just great.  
There was a slight cracking sound and he guessed he reopened- If not worsen- his wound.  
That was enough to get the figure's attention, which made him immediately tense. Above them, the crow kept circling, unsure on what to do.

The hybrid lowered herself to look at the skeleton who flinched hard, his eyes back to flashing violently with his magic. 

" W-whoever you are, s-stay back..!"

He tried to sound much braver than he actually felt at the moment.  
The Necromancer's piercing ruby glare examined him up and down before settling on his arm.

" … You are injured."- she observed. Gýro tensed once again. 

" injured or not, I'm perfectly capable of causing you some serious damage..! So, stay. Back." - he retorted with a hiss. 

He had spirit.  
She had to give him that.  
Spirit and a thick skull.  
For the little she could see, that arm could easily get Infected.  
She also felt guilt crawling back to bite her. Maybe she could have approached the kid in a less… Unintentionally threatening way.

She knew herself well… she wouldn't get any peace of mind if she didn't do anything.

" …. You're coming with me. I can treat this wound and send you back on your way later. I don't live far."

The skeleton looked dumbfounded at her. Incredulous even.

" Do…Do you expect me to follow a totally creepy stranger somewhere into the woods alone at night????"

Ivory frowned.  
Oh yeah.  
Let's not forget she's not used to social interaction that much.  
But for the little she had seen, that kid would most definitely get in trouble heading back on his own now.  
Death's territory was considerably far.  
And she doubted he knew how to dismiss the undead cast. 

Yep.  
She saw no other choice but to drag him home and ask some questions whether he was willing to accompany her or not.  
And so she did.  
Fully ignoring the boy's protests and eventual cries for help as she held onto his non-injured arm with her wing.  
As a skeleton… Gýro turned out to be very light to push around.

Not having any malicious intentions and used to undead creatures, the bird offered her no threat nor saw her as one. Just following the duo from a far in confusion. 

The skeleton eventually gave up fighting off the hybrid as It became clear his efforts were fruitless.  
Not letting himself be fully dragged but neither walking particularly willingly alongside her. 

He figured no one would listen to his calls.  
It was a waste of breath.  
The villagers were very unlikely to help Death's kin.  
And they were too deep in the forest.

He took the time to think, directing his gaze to the undead bird following them from above. Dark magic… Had he really done it?  
He should feel terrified.  
He really should.  
How could he? That was wicked, forbidden magic.  
He remembered all the feelings inside of him back in the act.  
Confusion. Sadness. Frustration. Loss.

It was all so dark. Cold…. Quiet. All that should have felt terrifying. He knew it should. But… Somehow… It had been… Comforting.

A single spell and his tormentors were gone.  
It had felt safe. 

ೋ❀❀ೋ═══ • ═══ೋ❀❀ೋ


	7. •> Quatervois - Crossroads, hard decisions in one's life.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What will happen to him now? What does this Ivory lady wants with him?  
> ....  
> What does she expect him to do with an offer like that?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- awkwardness.  
> \- two hardly sociable bookworms in a room. What could go wrong?  
> \- Necromancer.

Gýro watched through narrowed eyes as the Hybrid who had basically kidnapped him paced around. 

He was sitting on a balcony-like tall table in the stranger's so said house. If under different circumstances, he might have actually liked the place a lot. This person's home was partially a really huge hollow tree. Which by itself was really cool.

It was a small house almost entirely covered by roots, the tree grew around and on top of It, providing plenty of space for upper floors built inside of its large trunk. Which was exactly How it was made.

He was currently on the first one, the actual house floor. It was… Interesting. That was the best description for it. Nothing was particularly boring to look at. Everything around was pretty stuffy but organized at the same time. Some different kinds of plants hung down from the ceiling by hooks or makeshift clotheslines , the ceiling itself was made of wood with larger raw logs stretched to sustain the structure. Some old-styled lamps hung down burning with magic fire for illumination.

The balcony he was sitting on was made of worn wood, he could see several drawers and cabinets, and it went all the way to the opposite wall, curving to fit the whole square space, saving from one side that was opened to the rest of the room. The desk was covered in papers and books, some opened and marked while others laid in a neat pile. Maybe to be read later. 

The corner wall was covered in notes and sketches, a large window with wine purple curtains, drawn as the moment, facing the workplace. A single tall chair on the vacant space for it. 

He turned his gaze to the wall on the opposite side of the little house. A bookshelf occupied It all, and the only other thing to be seen was the pretty, yet simple, iron spiral staircase that led to the next floor. 

The bookshelf naturally caught his attention but he wouldn't dare and move towards it. Not with the strange monster so close by. He instead focused on warily watching her movements, and gathered all he knew about her so far.

….  
Which honestly? Was basically nothing.  
He knew she had wings… So part sky monster?  
He could only tell she was a hybrid for her body shape and the little he could see from her human half. He couldn't name nor give her a face, since the figure wore a bird-themed mask and hasn't spoken directly to him for a while now. Only mumbling to herself as she walked from closet to closet looking for something. 

He had no information on her magic or plans. She said she wanted to treat his wound but who knows? She could want information from him… Or his power for some reason… Maybe another death hater but willing to go far enough to kidnap one of his kids. Or just a megalomaniac after easy LOVE. 

He glanced at the undead bird from before… The crow was sitting next to him on the back of the chair.

He wondered If he could make her cause a distraction for him to escape... Maybe… It worked before… 

Cooking up his plan, he kept thinking on what on earth did this person really want from him until the figure herself finally stopped, turning her head towards him. He immediately tensed and gulped down.

Guess he was finding out.  
What would be? Poison? A knife? Some freaky potion or spell? Or maybe-

"Healing gel."

She said. Her voice was croaky but soft at the same time.

" …. What?" 

He let slide, blinking in confusion. Healing gel? … Did she really want to heal him..?

" Healing gel."- she repeated. - " I assume you know what it's? I have some upstairs. I need you to wait on your own for a while. It's your choice to run away if you wish, but have in mind that it's dark outside. If you made it to that age you likely know better than to walk around those woods at night on your own."- 

She explained glancing at a tall clock she had against the wall close to the door, before simply walking away heading upstairs.  
She stopped mid-way up, looking at him. Her ruby gaze betraying her calm words. She was clearly hesitant about leaving him alone, but sighed at how tense he looked.

" Please. Make yourself at home."

Gýro guessed she was trying to sound comforting. He thought for a moment. She did have a point… he knew the kind of things there were loose in his universe at night … There was no way he was making it home. He knew the way but not in the dark. And he was hurt. 

He exchanged a glance with the crow that hadn't moved as much as a feather. He didn't know who else to ask. The dead bird tilted her head towards the Hybrid, who still awaited for some kind of response. Guess that made 2 for staying. Sighing he looked at her, shyly but still wary.

" Uh… MInd if I read something..? Just while you're gone."

He asked. Maybe something in here would give him a better clue. He doubted asking 'what do you want from me?' would get him any real answers.

The mysterious lady seemed surprised. She considered for a second and nodded.

" You might not understand much of anything though. I just ask you not to unmark any page and replace any book you take where you found it." 

The skeleton nodded. The lady seemed satisfied as she resumed her way up. As soon as she was out of sight he jumped down from the balcony and started to look around, at first heading to the bookshelf.

He pondered on taking a book to read, but he had no time to do so, sadly. Not If still looking for clues. His eyes quickly scanned the titles… Mostly seemed to be enchantment books or dictionaries for several languages.

He turned back to the table, following the surface of the desk with his hand, stopping in front of the chair and a mess of marked books and notes.

Those seemed promising.

He turned his attention to an open page of a large book, full of different symbols. Anyone would think they were only random illustrations. But the whole page was covered on It. That was weird.  
Resting by its side was a paper. Seeming much newer than the yellowed one from the book. This one had words on them, but all scrawled over as If to hide or fix something. Whatever the words had once been, was now unrecognizable . 

He wanted to move on to the next side of the table… But curiosity took over him. Carefully sitting in the chair he stared at the symbols in the book. They were not runes or anything. Just figures. He followed them with his eyes.  
A gateway on the top. Under a spiral open to the left. A circle with a cross on its middle. A seven pointed star. A pentacle. A circle with a diagonal line, a small circle with two lines crossed under It.

He softly grabbed a nearby pen and turned the paper. Moving by instinct he started writing things down without looking away from the page…  
' a gateway- passage, the spiral… Way? A circular way. Like Life's garden. Life? - rebirth, living. Circle of live?/ Circle with a cross- land. Grounded. Ground. Earth/, seven pointed star- like the one in Gaster's temple. Gaster. God of Magic. Magic./ Pentacle…'

He frowned. What did a pentacle mean? Tapping on the table with the point of his fingers he kept taking notes of the words that came to his mind. Underlining what he thought seemed correct and risking what likely was not. 

' bad. Devil. Taboo./circle with a diagonal line- Magic./ Small circle over a cross- a skull? Skeleton monsters? Pirates? Danger. Cautious. Death. Deadly.'

He smiled proudly as he deciphered the last of the symbols of the first column. The crow from before was now looking at him from the top of the chair, curiously watching what he had written. Gýro didn't seem to mind at all.

"Passage… Life...Earth...Magic...Taboo..Magic...Danger, Deadly." - he read aloud quietly. The sound wasn't any lagood. But he was curious.

" Passage to Life, from… Left where the spiral is open… the other side… Of the Earth?.. Through Magic… Magical power… Is a… Dangerous- Taboo magic… Deadly. Maybe-"

He murmured, trying to make sense of the sentence. Too focused on his task to notice the presence watching him close by. And that wasn't the crow. 

•  
Ivory headed downstairs, carefully holding a jar of healing gel on her wings. She truly did hope the kid hadn't just run off. She wasn't keen on rescuing, if she even made It in time, a random kid from night demons.

She'd abandoned her mask on the top floor, revealing her pale face but unmistakably part human. Her hood down also showed well her starlight-silver short hair. She wore her glasses on. The Necromancer couldn't help but wonder If that made her less threatening.

Another thing in her mind was what that kid could have done to her study in the meanwhile. She didn't know him, but she'd seen enough kids to tell they're noisy, messy and often annoying. She hasn't heard anything so far but who knows.

Reaching the down floor she looked around, placing the jar on the end of the balcony. Where was he? Her chair hid the small skeleton entirely, and the only clue she had was that undead crow of his, sitting on the chair back and spying something at her desk.

Raising a curious brow she walked towards the table, spotting the half-blood writing something over the paper she'd earlier abandoned upon deciding the translation of the book she had been working on didn't quite match any language or rune she knew. Part of the reason why she was heading to the library before.

What was he writing anyways? Maybe Just drawing? She was about to say something when he spoke. Likely to himself, completely unaware of her presence.

"Passage… Life...Earth...Magic...Taboo..Magic...Danger, Deadly." 

She blinked in surprise. Those words were not random… Could he read those scyphers? How? He spoke again, louder this time, but still to himself.

" Passage to Life, from… Left where the spiral is open… the other side… Of the Earth?.. Through Magic… Magical power… Is a… Dangerous- Taboo magic… Deadly. Maybe-"

Ivory was silent for a moment. That sounded about correct. Every necromancy book had a warning for starters. How did he manage to transcribe that much? Now that was a mystery. 

She thought for a moment on how she herself would word that sentence.

"... To open the passage from beyond the earth back to life, one's magical energy is required. Such practice is a dangerous taboo, deadly for those weak of soul."

The boy, startled, jumped back to his feet stumbling and falling back to the ground with an 'oof' in his feeble attempt to turn to her. The undead bird he had with him set flight and began circling against the ceiling. 

She chuckled slightly in amusement, offering her wing to the skeleton, who hesitated for a moment before shily accepting the help and pulling himself up. There was an awkward silence.

" I'm… Sorry for poking through your stuff… "- he said quietly. 

Ivory blinked and shook her head.  
" No. I believe I told you to make yourself comfortable. I'm rather curious actually. What do you know about the language in that book?"

She asked. A glimmer of interest in her eyes. Maybe he knew the basics of necromancy after all. That should explain the crow. It would be unusual for a kid that age to know the art, but more plausible than a son of Death having Necromancy for their true magic.

" Language..?"- Gýro seemed confused. - " I… didn't recognize it as a language… Just… the symbols were familiar."

"Familiar?"- she pressed. The boy seemed tense again.

" Y-yeah… T-The spiral looks like… T-The garden on the center of Life's sanctuary is shaped like this… a-and the star and one of the circles are in a lot of things from the God of Magic … I m-must've seen the others in Mr. Gers- Wisdom's library…"- he explained… Mentally scolding himself for how shaken he must have sound.

The hybrid hummed in thought, turning around and gesturing for him to follow. Gýro sighed in relief as it seemed he wouldn't be getting interrogated again. He took his time, obviously still wary, but followed.

Sitting on the indicated bench, he watched as the hybrid opened the healing gel, carefully not to spill the content. 

" Show me the injury on your left arm." - she ordered more than requested.

Gýro hesitantly rolled up his sleeve, revealing the damaged bone. The three claw marks had spread wide open and a spider web of cracks had been formed around them. The boy frowned.

The lady didn't look impressed. She had dealt with worse. Scooping up a generous amount of the item, she applied it on. The skeleton visibly shivered as the cold gel made contact but did not complain. Just sighed as the healing magic began to sooth the aches he had only realized were even there.

"Thanks " - he murmured. 

" Do you have a name, son of Death?"

He flinched at the title.  
" Please, don't call me that. I'm Gýro."

Ivory nodded in response.  
" Very well, Gýro. I'm Ivory.  
….  
What would you say  
….  
………  
…………..  
About learning Necromancy?"

ೋ❀❀ೋ═══ • ═══ೋ❀❀ೋ


	8. • Zemblanity - To discover things better left unknown.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Revelation of one's true magic for any monster is usually a reason to celebrate.  
> .... Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- comfort  
> \- paranoia  
> A calmer chapter actually. I'm trying to show and stabilish Ivory's personality.

ೋ❀❀ೋ═══ • ═══ೋ❀❀ೋ  
Chapter 7: Zemblanity

….  
What would you say  
….  
………  
…………..  
About learning Necromancy?"  
…..

Gýro's eye-lights widened as he stared in shock at the lady in front of him.   
Necromancy?  
How could she even ask him that?!   
Who on their right mind would agree to such a thing?!

Necromancy, the art of contacting or summoning the dead.  
He couldn't do that.   
He could never do that.   
He was a grim reaper, for Asgore's sake!

He opened his mouth to voice all those thoughts but as in contradiction, the hoarse cry from his undead crow echoed through the room.   
It landed on the table closer to him and awaited in expectation.  
Ivory seemed aware of that as she turned her head towards the creature.

" You are a very special kid, you know that, Gýro?"- she began, gaining the half-blood's attention.  
Special?  
Nobody had ever called him that...

"What you have done today is something I've never heard of, or seen in all my years in that field.  
You unawarely and single handed managed to cast a medium-high necromantical spell, that without any apparent knowledge of the art.

The only plausible explanation I am able to reach is that… Well congratulations.  
Your true magic has sprouted."

Gýro listened intently but froze as soon as the hybrid finished her speech.

A Monster's secondary or true Magic as it was often called, was the special hint or form of projectiles this individual would develop to reflect and express their true self and their soul's true nature.  
It wasn't bound by patterns or logic like birth-magic was.   
It would sprout when said monster caught a glimpse of their true-selves.   
Often even stronger than the birth magic they would inherit from their parents and relatives.

If his had sprouted on THAT… 

No.  
No no no no no no,   
It couldn't be! Just couldn't!   
That was wrong, wicked magic! Forbidden! A Taboo!   
Oh gods what have he done?  
What would everyone say about him?  
What would his father say of him now?  
Would Reaper hate him?  
Gosh he hoped not…!   
Would they punish him? Exile him??  
He didn't need any more trouble! 

It wasn't until much later in his internal panic attack, when Ivory's wing brushed on his shoulder comfortingly that he realized something warm and wet dripping down his cheek bone.

He was crying.  
For the second time on that day…  
That was an awful lot for what he was used to. He was never one to cry.

" h-H… How could I..?"

He said quietly, wiping his tears with his sleeve. He couldn't bring himself to meet the hybrid's flaming ruby eyes.   
He couldn't bring himself to look any living soul in the eye right now.  
He was so… Ashamed.

So instead, his shaky eye-lights traveled to the crow.  
The undead bird stared back at him.   
He swore he could see understanding on it's pearly charcoal eyes.   
He kept their gazes locked as Ivory's voice called his attention.   
He registered it with a weak nod of his skull. 

" I can literally see smoke coming out of your skull, kid.   
I know it is a lot to take, but that is the expression of someone who looked at a situation from every angle except the good one."

" As you should... Is there even a good one..?" - he managed to murmur as he brought his knees closer to his seat and buried his face within them.   
Slightly slamming his forehead on the process.  
Nope.  
That wasn't just a bad dream.  
He hasn't been knocked out by the villagers again. It'd be better If he had.

Ivory rolled her eyes.  
Not that she didn't feel sympathetically towards the young skeleton, it must be hard finding out your true magic is not only a rare one, but the pollo opposite of your birth type.

But honestly? If anything, she hated self-pity.

" Listen to me, deathboy. And listen well, I won't repeat myself."

" I told you not to call me that…"

She earned a half-glare from the kid through his crossed arms, which only managed to prove her point.   
She smirked slightly but her voice was sternly and somewhat harsh.   
She couldn't comfort someone.   
She did not know how to.   
What she could do was what she was good at. Stating facts. 

" Oh please, I can't stand miserables like you   
When coming to something that didn't turn out as expected.  
That's just pathetic.  
I'm guessing you thought your magic to sprout exactly as old Reaper's?   
A large scythe and the ability to kill anything within 5 feet from you?

We may lie to ourselves and everyone else but True Magic does not lie, boy.  
You can't fool your own reflection.

You got a 1 in a million chance of having yours sprout as such a rare kind.   
Pull yourself together at once, and while you're at It…" 

She pauses spreading the palm of her wing in front of the other, her eyes glowing a warm red as a tiny spark of white-colored magic shone within her reach.

From the tiny pale flame, several butterflies emerged, as if made out of fire themselves, they were see through but visible and somewhat shiny.   
Circling around them softly, leaving ghostly trails behind.

" …. Try counting your blessings.  
Why kill everything you touch when life is so much more beautiful?

You dislike being compared to Reaper because you are tired of being treated as so.   
You do not want to be your father.   
Your magic knows that. "

The ghost butterflies seemed to have immediate effect, as Gýro looked up from his hiding attempt in awe, gasping quietly at the sight.   
His eye-lights sparkling softly.  
So pretty...

His soulbeat calming as the apparitions seemed to ground him from the edge of the panic attack.   
Now his thoughts seemed less foggy to deal with the whole situation.  
He closed his eyes and analyzed what had happened for a moment and where It could lead him, forming an overall picture of his position now.

It wasn't good.

Ivory smiled discreetly at her success.   
Yet even still, Gýro seemed a bit lost.

" …. They might hate me now…"- he said softly, without looking away from the butterflies, that now seemed to circle the undead crow curiously.

Ivory hummed in thought as she pushed herself a chair.  
She knew the gods were… Hard.   
As a Necromancer herself, she knew that only too well.   
But she doubted that was the case.  
No one could control their true magic and how it would manifest itself. 

If they were to blame a child for that they might as well all be just a bunch of empty-headed fractions of cosmic power and nothing more.

" …. You seem to be over-thinking that.   
Sure, the 'All mighty God of Magic' might be mad for the violation of one of his precious boundaries, but as I would say, he has a bigger tongue than influence.   
The final word is the God of Sky's and he wouldn't blame you for something out of your control."

" I know…. Over-thinking is apparently a specialty of mine."-he said sighing, once more burying his face o1qqn his arms, he couldn't help it.

He never heard of a Grim reaper bringing the dead back to life… Even the sound of it was ridiculous.   
He was a walking contradiction wasn't he..?

And still Ivory's words echoed in his skull.  
There's had to be a reason for his magic to take that form… And hers seemed reasonable….   
Did he…. Wanted to oppose Death?  
No… He didn't want to oppose his dad…  
He just…. Wanted to differ the two of them.  
He wanted to leave his shadow.  
To be judged for who he was.  
Was… That the way of doing so? 

".…. I'll get over this. I always do.   
I just have to be dramatic first and internally make a scene, I have no Idea what's happening in my mind right now… I might zone out on you." -he said somewhat blankly. 

Ivory was silent for a moment with that reply. She wasn't really expecting anything on that line from a 9 year old…  
But soon her surprise fell to a contained laughter.

Gýro confusedly turned to her.  
What was so funny?  
He was sort of having an existential crisis here.

" You are an interesting kid, Gýro…"

" How so?"

"Well, for starters you don't have that bothery cocky attitude I would expect from a demi-god.   
If anything I'm thankful for your little demonstration earlier,"-

she paused gesticulating towards the crow, who was now shaking itself rather roughly, trying to get the bug spirits away. 

\- " , At least I know you are not your thick skull father. I don't think I would ever be able to bear a world with two Deaths.  
One is grumpy and nosy enough.   
So your point has been proved. "

He dropped his head slightly to the side.  
Was he trying to prove a point?

" Uh… Thank you..?"

The caddle's call interrupted them as Ivory got up to tend to it.   
Gýro wondered when she had even placed it there…  
Then again, he wasn't really aware of anything at all just a couple minutes ago.   
He really did think too loud. 

He focused on the ghost butterflies once again as she was gone, not wanting to deal with his problems at the moment.   
And once again, he must have zoned off.  
He blinked confusedly with the soft sharp sound of a mug being placed in front of him.

Ivory stood in front of the table, holding a mug of her own.

" You do seem to 'space out' a lot as you put It, child." - she commented.

Gýro couldn't help but giggle embarrassedly.  
" O-oh… Maybe … I get that a lot. "  
He admitted.  
Looking back at the mug on the table.  
It held a hot golden liquid inside that smelled great.  
He was still cautious though.

The Necromancer seemed to read his thoughts, which only caused her to chuckle.

" Not very trusting, are we? That's good.  
You shouldn't take things from strangers.  
But If I was trying to poison you or anything, I would have done it much earlier.   
Probably before tending your wounds."

The boy hesitated… She did have a point.

"Sorry… is just… I'm used to being wary. There are a lot of people out to get a half-blood.  
…. I'm being completely honest now and saying I'm still deciding if you're one of them."

Ivory simply nodded.   
It was more than understandable.

" Well, drink it If you like. My word likely has little meaning for the wary. It's Golden flower and chamomile tea. There's some healing magic on it as well. Should take whatever edge remains from that arm of yours. "

Gýro slowly nodded.  
"T-thanks…"  
She was right… This person, whoever she was, had had a million opportunities to harm him, yet she hadn't…  
Maybe, just maybe he could trust her.

He took the drink, feeling the warm glass against the palm of his hands.  
It was somewhat comforting, although slightly too hot on his hold.  
… Well, maybe too hot for someone with skin.

He carefully held the mug with both hands and tried a small sip.  
It was great, he felt the fresh touch of healing magic, along with the sweet flavour of the Golden flowers and the calming effect of chamomile. He hummed contently.

" I-it… It tastes awesome… Thanks." - he thanked quietly, receiving a nod for the answer.

" I would have made some full HP food… But I'm not exactly a skillful cook."

Ivory commented, drinking from her own tea and sighing.   
She wasn't lying.   
She could do potions and other healing items or such, but actual food… That was out of question.  
She never really practiced, often forgetting to eat herself, too caught up on her own studies, and to top it off … Wings.

Gýro giggled at the thought of the monster in front of him trying to cook.  
He knew her for only a few hours, but he could tell she didn't seem like the housekeeper type. 

The Hybrid smiled softly seeing the skeleton relax. Good. She couldn't deal with most emotions well.

There were a couple more minutes of silence, neither comfortable but also not awkward.   
None knew what to say.  
And as it seemed as if none would talk…  
Gýro voiced what had been bothering him.

" U-um… Miss Ivory..? I…. Why are you being so nice to me?"

She raised a questioning brow at that.  
" Why not?"

" Well…. It m-might get people to… Look badly at you. T-to be seen with anyone Death related…"

"Look badly at me..."- she repeated quietly as If considering what to say next.  
What came out was a dry laughter followed by a mocking roll of her eyes. - " Look badly at me? A hybrid, and nonetheless a Necromancer.

Honestly, one would think a kid smart enough to translate a fragment of ancient texts would know better than to make such a silly assumption. Of course they will."

She looked back at him, setting her empty mug at the table.

"Dear, people are stupid, close minded, extremely boring and I couldn't care less wether or not they talk behind my back or stare when I cross the street.

I'll judge whose opinion is important by those wise enough not to judge a book by it's cover." 

Ivory was more than used to stares and rumors about her running around.  
In fact she had tolerated that through all her life.  
She could sympathize with the young AfterDeath in a way.  
And quite frantically, at her age, little of what people said truly phased her.

Gýro seemed thoughtful for a moment and then laughed softly. He wasn't expecting that answer.

"Well… I don't think I can argue with that, you do have a very convincing point.."

" Of course I do. You'll find out that's very rarely not the case should you take my offer."

"Uh… Offer?"- 

" About … Your magic. I can teach you all that I know. I'm aware this might still be a sore spot for you, but no decisions should be taken today.  
I just want you to know it is open.  
Right now you had a long day, and I believe I should take you home. I've kept you long enough and is late."

Gýro glanced at the clock… It was Indeed, very late. He couldn't help but wonder if his parents had noticed he was gone by now.

" Y-yeah… My mom might be a bit worried….  
I-Isn't It dangerous to walk the woods so late, though?"

Ivory nodded.  
" For anyone else, yes.  
Though I'm not anyone else.   
Scared of the dark, little crow?"

She teased.

"What? No!"- he quickly retorted.

He wasn't scared of the dark.  
There was nothing the dark could do.   
The dark was harmless.  
What scared him, is what hid under the dark.

Reapertale was a dangerous AU at night.  
If there were gods, there were also monsters.  
But not the good kind.  
Demons. Made from darkness.  
Anyone smart would be scared. 

Ivory laughed, standing up.  
" I see. Well don't worry. We won't travel without light, and I have a pretty notable night vision, if I do say so myself."- she said, proudly fixing her glasses. 

Gýro nodded. Ivory seemed to know what she was doing….  
Gods he hoped she did.

•

………  
When Ivory had said they wouldn't travel in the dark…. He was expecting for them to bring something like a lantern.  
He couldn't really say candle-lights didn't count….

But not burning in purple flames on the top ends of the horns of a freaking Wendigo.

Were Wendigos even real???? Apparently.  
The evidencie standing almost 5 meters tall in front of him and looking down at the two seemed pretty solid.

" W-what is… that….?!"-  
He managed to crack out.

His mind was working, yeah, but his body wasn't exactly listening.  
To begin with, his bones were shaking, his eye-sockets went dark and he couldn't move.

Ivory laughed silently.  
" What? Never seen a flesh-golem before?"- she asked, raising a brow at him.

(( That? How rude. The correct term is Who.))

A deep voice echoed in his skull. Gýro flinched.  
Did that thing just… talk?

The creature standing in front of him was enormous, It had dark gray short fur except by a lighter lion-like mane around its neck, their back legs were a deer's but the upper ones were hand-like with sharp claws and long phalanges. 

Its back had the form of a spine covered by little flesh, so the bones were pretty visible. A huge thin tail with fluff on its end whipped behind its solid and muscular shape.

An antler with several points that ended as purple flamed candles, standing on a deer skull that covered the upper part of its face topped the terrorizing figure.  
On its forehead the same symbol Ivory had in hers and her wings. 

Gýro found it very unlikely to talk.   
He was wrong.   
The flesh-golem as it was classified, looked sternly at him with his dark eye-sockets.  
He shivered.

" That's Malum. My main familiar."

Ivory finally spoke.   
The Wendigo nodded at him briefly, snorting like an ox as he did so.

(( Yes. Him. Not it. Greetings, little one.))

" Malum's flames should light our way. I doubt anything lurking around would approach him either.   
Can you walk? "

" I-I…"- he shook his head. No.  
Stop being a scaredy cat. This… Familiar was under Ivory's control.   
And she had made it clear she wasn't out to get him.   
He made an effort to steady his voice.

"Y-yeah… I can walk."

He knew where her line of thought was going, and no way he was getting anywhere near that thing.

" Oh? What a shame… I wanted to see old Death's face to his son riding my lovely familiar when he opened the door." - she said, shrugging and starting to walk. 

Malum did something similar to a scoff and followed.

(( Don't fall behind.))

The creature warned.   
Gýro once again began rethinking his life-choices… That and he was only nine.   
Shaking his head he runned after the duo.  
That had been a long night...


	9. •⟩ Mesmeric - something appealing that draws attention.

Ivory walked quietly through the dark woods, sided by her familiar, Malum.  
The flesh-golem stopped every so often, looking behind his shoulder in search of the young boy they escorted home.  
The kid never seemed to fall too far behind to be out of the reach of the light his purple flames provided, but still kept his distance from the creature.  
Understandable gesture at least.  
The Wendigo took no offence on that, if anything, prouding itself of its intimidating form. 

He turned to his master once making sure the youngster of the three couldn't hear.  
Malum spoke inside one's mind.  
He could very well talk to Ivory on her own at any given time, but the latter had no way of answering him in the same manner.

" What is eating you, Malum?"- she asked as soon as he approached a couple steps.

The hybrid Necromancer had always been a talent for reading one's intentions and general emotions, despite often lacking the ability to express her own.  
He could be her familiar and share a fragment of her soul, but even still his emotions shouldn't be as apparent to anyone.  
She never failed to impress, did she?

'Why do you have such interest in this boy?'

He asked without further delay.  
The Pale Necromancer hummed in thought before answering calmly.

" Haven't you seen enough to answer that?  
He is an interesting kid."- she stated, glancing sideways to the undead crow that now followed the trio from above, never too far.  
If anything, the bird was proof enough of her motives.

Malum however, seemed highly unimpressed by the creature.  
'Any aspiring necromancer can do that.  
I don't trust him. Take him under your wing and it might back-fire on you.  
You need not to get the gods attention once more , much less Death's.  
Not now that we're finally at peace, Iva.'

The Wendigo said calmly but firmly. As a necromancer of such renoum, it wasn't uncommon the times in which Ivory would get to the gods' bad side.  
Especially Magic and Sky.  
Constantly scolding her for the dark arts.  
Not that it barely had any effect though.

Currently, Ivory and none other of her familiars have been particularly standing on thin Ice as they usually were, miraculously. Maybe because of Life's request - since the goddess asked them to be more careful and his master held her on a high standard - even Tanith and Mehen had laid low and away from any mortals or sacred areas.  
Malum was reasonable.  
He didn't want that peace to end as he had a bad feeling about the upcoming future.

Seeing destiny as a twisted river, the golem knew better to trust his instincts above the illusion of what seemed harmless.  
He disliked what the road ahead felt like.  
It could end as a waterfall for the best of his knowledge.  
Or It was just the familiar chilling aura of Death the boy carried from blood.  
Perhaps a small part of him was jealous of sharing his master more than he already had with his 'siblings'.  
Either way, Malum was against it.

Ivory suddenly stopped and looked at him straight to the eye.

" When did peace and calmitude ever seemed to fit me?" - she asked, not really expecting an answer.

Malum held her gaze for a couple more minutes and looked away.  
Truth… What did he expect?  
He forgot how Iva was… Any liking of unchanging tranquility she once had probably had gone into him.

' Don't say I didn't warn you. I will support your decision as I shall. '

They spoke not of the matter the rest of the way as they followed.

Gýro had walked a bit behind the duo, trying to keep his distance as much as he could without getting out of the candle light.  
He knew those two… uh… Connected beings were talking between them somehow.  
He also knew he probably shouldn't eavesdrop.  
Therefore he kept as far as he could get to give them privacy.  
Fighting every impulse in his body that told him to run and stay close to the safe necromancer whenever an unknown shadow would lurk around a bit too close, or a pair - or several - of curious bright eyes would stare at them from the blinding darkness. 

The silence in the forest was deafening, besides the occasional rustle that things hidden out of sight did when moving around, what on its own was far from comforting.  
To top it off, nothing around them was visible.  
Besides Malum and his magical flames, the only light came from the full moon above,  
still, it reached not the path they walked at, merely painting of a cold silver the upper branches of the tallest trees, now looking a lot like claws and bones, stopping before even reaching the trunk for most of them. 

Their silhouettes were so well defined they looked like white paper cutouts glued to the black, poorly starred background.

Gýro wondered if he was letting his imagination get the best out of him.  
Not impossible, but very unlikely.

He didn't know any of the creatures they came across on the usually empty path.  
Most shrinked and made unpleasant noises whenever Malum would move his head ever so slightly, sending light into the woods.  
Avoiding the purple beams like the plague and glaring at the Wendigo from where only the glimmering of their orbs was visible.  
Gýro was honestly terrified.  
He almost missed the villagers in a place like this… At least he knew what they were like.

Ivory and her familiar seemed unfazed through it all though.  
He was grateful for that.  
If it wasn't his pride screaming for him not to look like a baby-bones in front of them, he'd likely had hidden in some isolated corner or tree root, pushing his hood above his eyes and telling himself it was just a bad dream until dawn broke and he could run home as fast as his legs could possibly go.

He jumped and yelped a little when something a bit heavy flew right at him landing on his right shoulder, squeezing his eye-sockets tightly and clenching his fists like that would help somehow.  
Why did his body have to react so pathetically to everything when he was trying so hard not to embarass himself?  
Closing his eyes wouldn't stop a night demon from killing him if it wanted to.  
Whimpering was useless even with mortals.  
He was a grim reaper.  
He was supposed to be scary even though everything was after him all the time.  
…. All the time.  
It wasn't fair.

Taking a deep breath he opened his sockets to find Crow, nuzzling the side of his skull gently.  
Her death cold feathers were oddly comforting. Like they had always been in life.  
Had her… Felt how bothered he was..?

A chuckle got his attention before he could pounder on that.  
Turning his skull he saw Ivory and Malum standing side by side a couple steps ahead, patiently waiting for him not to fall too far behind.  
The hybrid apparently finding the situation slightly amusing by the playful look she wore, covering a grin with the fold of her wing. 

Faking a cough trying to disguise the yelp, Gýro straightened himself upright, Crow still resting on his shoulder, as he dusted off his clothes even though they were already clean.  
Wanting an excuse to look away from that teasing ruby gaze even if that meant pretending to search for non-existent dust and care about something as futile as his appearances at the moment.

That only seemed to get him a full blown laughter from the eldest.

"Are you scared of the dark, little crow? That won't do for a necromancer."- she teased.

" A-am not!"  
He cursed under his breath for his shaky voice.

" I just… What are these things?.."- he whispered looking around at the presences that seemed to vanish whenever he tried to follow one of them with his gaze.

'Night demons.'

Malum answered for him.  
Not flinching at the telepathic voice as he had the previous times, Gýro allowed himself a moment to feel proud.  
That was… an improvement. Probably.

" Haven't Death told you about them?"- Ivory added, dropping her head a bit too much to the side, mirroring a curious owl.

" Y-yeah… I know what they are, but like… what are they?..."  
He mentally face-palmed.  
That had been a poor choice of words.

Ivory seemed to get the meaning either way as she seemed thoughtful.

" Hm… I believe they form out of restless souls or life-regrets. Walk and talk, child."- She said, quickly walking to Gýro and urging him forward with her wings. 

Whatever hid in the shadows didn't seem to fancy being the conversation topic, shifting slightly and hissing at the intruders.  
The skeleton gave her a confused and nervous look but picked up his pace.  
Suddenly not so scared of being near Malum anymore.

They walked silently throughout the rest of the way as the night grew darker.  
Finally, Gýro could see the outline of his home. There was a single light on, the living room.  
He seemed confused.  
It was very late even for his parents.  
Around 3 or 4 AM?  
He felt a tug of guilty hope in his soul.  
Had they… Been looking for him..?

•

Geno couldn't sleep.  
He often did that.  
Mostly because nightmares about all that happened… There in the save-screen would torment him some nights.  
Especially when Reaper came home late and he went to bed by himself.  
But it was something different keeping him up this time. Something he couldn't quite place his finger on. Probably something from his present rather than former life?

Geno has never been… Well, cut out for a normal life. At least not for a long time after his whole… 'Destroy my timeline' incident.  
Although he found out he had quite the attitude for putting order around the house, he still belittled little things like…  
Leaving the clothes out on the clothesline in the rain, running out of groceries, making sure none of the kids made a black whole whenever they were upset- Things everyone should probably know how to deal with.  
Years trapped in a dark void with nothing to do but suffer didn't do him any favors in knowing how to live peacefully. 

He tapped his falanges to the wooden table holding a cup of tea with his free hand.

" Maybe something the kids did..?"

He murmured to himself.  
That was another constant worry of his.  
His children.  
He couldn't help but smile a little.  
His children.  
They were often getting into every kind of mischief, and made his life more… Interesting. More cut out for him.  
And they were all so sweet on their own ways-

Shino and Goth were always making him drawings and cute craftings of theirs, Sorrell was just sweet on their own, Savage as well. Silver and Raven were recluse but they always helped out a lot watching out for their siblings…  
The AfterTale skeleton sighed.  
They all seemed fine not so long ago…  
He lowered his gaze to his tea.

Tea.  
He always had that whenever he'd have insomnia or night-terrors.  
Odd, now that he thinks about it… Didn't sound like something he'd do by himself.  
He was more likely to microwave a cup of milk than to make tea.  
Maybe Reaper gave him that habit..?  
No… Reaper worked 24/7 on coffee.  
Someone else did…

He placed a hand on his forehead.  
Why, in Asgore's name, was he so slow to think whenever he got worried?  
Who helped him with night-terrors?  
Someone who was a light-sleeper.  
Well, Reaps was out unless It was a very bad one then. He slept like death (heh).  
Most kids slept 'til late in the morning…  
That left the early birds…  
From those…

A ring cut out his line of thought.  
Was that the doorbell..?  
He glanced at the clock… 03:47 AM… Who would show up this late? Maybe Ink and Dream? They did that sometimes although using the front door for once would be a surprise…  
As a matter of fact, any known guests using the front door would be surprising.  
Why did everyone just feel like teleporting into his house whether they lived here or not?  
He would never know.

Standing up he left his tea and thoughts untouched as he walked towards the door, hesitating slightly… It was very late… Maybe It was a trap or something..?

" Mom..?"

The soft calling from the other side had Geno's marrow run cold.  
He knew that voice a bit too well.  
Or was he imagining things?  
Unimportant!  
He quickly unlocked the door, without a care of who it was or could be.

The first thing he noticed was, Indeed, one of his middle's, Gýro!  
That was the name he had been trying to fish in his memory just a few moments ago.  
How could he have..!

" Gýro! In Asgore's name what are you doing outside?!..? And so late! How long have you been..-! I mean what were you thinking?! "- he struggled to find his words, pushing the youngster into a tight hug.

How come he took so long to realize one of his kids were missing?! How long-  
Oh stars, he felt horrible.  
Suddenly considering Nalstablook's advice of laying down and feeling like garbage once this was done.

Gýro's eye-lights widened a bit with the surprise hug. His instinctive reaction was to back off, but he fought it.  
He knew how sensitive and sharp his mom could be. Geno would definitely notice it.  
And probably get offended by or hurt.

" I… Stuff happened when I was getting back. Nothing much- just-"

" Important stuff. "- a new voice spoke.  
Geno flinched, looking up behind his kid…

A bird monster..? No, a hybrid - he was still getting used to the existence of those … They weren't a thing back in AfterTale. - standing up he faces her warily, instinctively pushing Gýro closer.

" Can I .. Help you?"

The purple hooded figure just shook her head and pointed to the child with her snowy white wing, calmly.

" Quite the opposite.  
I'm just returning what I believe is yours.  
I apologize it's this late at night.  
I hope not to have woken you, I just figured It wouldn't be wise leaving a child wandering back on his own at this hour."

She said, glancing behind her shoulder to the dark woods… Geno followed her gaze to the blurred eyes that covered the darkness with their unknown owners and sickening, yet sensible from a far, bloodlust.  
He shivered. Those too weren't a thing in AfterTale.  
Truly… He should thank this person or Gýro would probably have been torn to pieces on his way back.  
He turned to her once again and bowed his head slightly.

" You're right… I'm sorry… I really should thank you. Ergh… Where was he and who are..?"

" In the middle of the forest a little before sundown. An… important event took place there. Geno, right? I've heard of you. I'm called Ivory Stallard.  
Can we talk?"

Ivory asked, sending Gýro a knowing glance.  
She knew him for a day.  
And that was what she needed to presume the kid would likely hide the discovery of his true Magic, so it would be better for her to talk.  
Especially If she expected to take the boy under her tutoring.  
As in response the kid just looked down, holding tightly to the older skeleton's jacket from his position behind his legs.  
Suddenly feeling shy.

Geno took the glance exchange as a sign that this was an 'adults only' kind of conversation. It was also very late.  
He kneeled down in front of Gýro and patted his skull, a guilty look in his eye-lights.  
How could he have forgotten him..?  
Even for a day and even being a quiet kid, he had helped him through so many night-terrors and was always good...

" M-mom..? What's wrong..?"

Geno didn't notice the tears before the child himself had.  
He quickly wiped them away, he wasn't the crying kind.

" Nothing, kiddo… Just glad you're safe…  
Why don't you go get some sleep..?  
I'll thank Miss Stallard myself."

Gýro didn't seem convinced but nodded …  
Dwelling on it probably wouldn't do any good.  
He sent Ivory a last glance for the night…  
He felt himself standing on the verge of possible change…  
Yet he felt scared of taking the road opening up before him.  
…. Furthermore….  
He also felt that his legs were suddenly made out of noodles and he probably wouldn't be able to maintain whatever energy boost was keeping him up all the way here and he wasn't particularly keen on collapsing in front of the Necromancer.

She nodded in Understanding and watched as the youngster of the three headed deeper inside the house and disappeared upstairs.  
Back to the AfterTale skeleton, she assumed a more serious posture.

" Now… believe I have something rather mesmeric to tell you. "


End file.
